Now official Alfa back in F1 after 30 years.

Andyk

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It's now official Alfa Romeo now the official partner of Sauber and the team will be rebranded Alfa Romeo Sauber next year.
 

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StuartW

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Very cool - now wouldn't be great to see Maserati back too? A dream too far I would imagine though
 

BL330

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1,121
That's fantastic for Alfa fans, but shows how the corporate heart is not behind Maserati.
 

zagatoes30

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20,702
Cool bit of Marketing and should be good for the brand pity it's just a paint job and no Alfa technology
 

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
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That's fantastic for Alfa fans, but shows how the corporate heart is not behind Maserati.

Maserati too niche, expensive luxury, Alfa Romeo mainstream, daily transport affordable by many. So not surprised at all.
 

bigbob

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Good news for Alfa plus same year Ferrari engines too. Makes the Maserati strategy more unclear...or maybe more clear - more luxury and less sport.
 

BJL

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With the QV Stelio holding the ring record and the Guilia QV being lorded by petrol heads across the globe I think the timing is spot on. Looking at mags like Auto Italia and EVO there is no shortage of Alfaistas who will feel emboldened by the F1 involvement and can only do the brand good even if they don't compete for the podium.

Agreed it does show Machiones intended direction of Maserati which is possibly Fiats Lexus.........aaaarrrrrggh.
 

zagatoes30

Member
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20,702
I'm glad they're not making the wishbones or wheel hubs. :)

They would have been fine, even Alfa ones last 500 miles which is more than they need to cover in each race weekend, much more than that and I agree they would have struggled :0
 

philw696

Member
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25,016
Interesting Fiats Lexus.
Thing is Toyota executed the Lexus really well right from the beginning with a quality car and pretty bullet proof.
 

sospanbach

Junior Member
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119
was under the impression Maserati were being lined up to compete in formula E I,m afraid that formula doesn,t inspire me
 

Andyk

Member
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61,005
With the QV Stelio holding the ring record and the Guilia QV being lorded by petrol heads across the globe I think the timing is spot on. Looking at mags like Auto Italia and EVO there is no shortage of Alfaistas who will feel emboldened by the F1 involvement and can only do the brand good even if they don't compete for the podium.

Agreed it does show Machiones intended direction of Maserati which is possibly Fiats Lexus.........aaaarrrrrggh.

Ah...short lived the Jaguar Project 8 dear the Guilia QV ring record by 11 seconds...Although it's being challenged as not a probation ready car...But looking at the lap it's pretty impressive.

I think this is a great move for Alfa and its U.K. image......Does it really matter it's just a name...not really....Aston now has their name on a red bull but that's it although they are going to get more technically involved over the years. Plus they are building that Red Bull Aston Super car.....Perhaps a Sauber Alfa car could be in the making.
 

Andyk

Member
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61,005
was under the impression Maserati were being lined up to compete in formula E I,m afraid that formula doesn,t inspire me

Tired to watch it but just can't get into it either......if it's the future I may take up tidily winks.
 

alfatwo

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5,517
Its the future.. Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, whatever. lets just enjoy

Fiat, Alfa and Ferrari make all the company money with there road, race and hi future tech

Maser as an iconic brand on the other hand still doesn't seem to be able to wash it's face, shame really!

Dave
 

MrMickS

Member
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3,945
I thought that the deal announcement included Alfa engineering expertise and engineers being made available to Sauber. So potentially more than just a name and branding exercise. What's meant by this we will have to wait and see. It could just be a way to legally transfer Ferrari technology to Sauber but going via Alfa Romeo rather than direct.

One thing for sure they will have to make sure that the Alfa/Sauber cars aren't quicker than the red cars or there will be issues.

Given Maserati haven't built an F1 car since 1957 I'd rather see them involved in sports car racing, say with the new Alfieri whenever it arrives. It would be a better fit than F1 or Formula E at the moment. I'd anticipate a new hybrid/electric sports car series by 2020 or so. Porsche have their Mission E out by then so it kind of makes sense that racing them will become a thing. A good way to get petrolheads into the new electric cars would be to see them on the track.

Finally, as Andy brought it up, I think Jaguar are pushing it with claiming the ring record. That isn't a production car its a homologation special. If the record stands though it could be interesting to see what the response is from Alfa Romeo. An upgraded QV perhaps?